Nepal Dairy Association demands for providing milch cow or buffalo to quake victims

Kathmandu,  Nepal Dairy Association has demanded that the government should provide one milch cow or buffalo to each earthquake affected family. 
The Association believes that providing a milch cow and buffalo to the earthquake victims would help supplement their income and attain the country to gain self-sufficiency in milk production. 
Altogether 31 districts have been declared as the earthquake affected districts, including 14 hard-hit districts and 17 mildly-hit districts. The National Reconstruction Authority has been running vocational and skills based project in these districts besides providing financial support for rebuilding houses. 
As many as 450 thousand farming families in the country are engaged in milk production. Milk worth Rs 30 million is consumed daily in the urban area, Association president Sumit Kedia said. 
Similarly, the total investment in the dairy industries is approximately Rs 15 billion and 20 thousand people are employed in this sector. Some 200 industries are the members of the Association. 
Association general secretary Prahlad Dahal said the government should provide various subsidies and facilities to the dairy farmers, and the dairy farmers should also produce quality products. 
Although the total milk production in the country is 5 million daily, this is not enough to meet the demand and 25 per cent of this is imported. 
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